Sidney Spit

With its sandy beaches and camping facilities, Sidney Island is a great place for a day trip from Victoria. It’s a popular spot to visit during the summer.

PARKS CANADA FACILITIES ON SIDNEY ISLAND

The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve has camping and recreational parkland in a number of places in the Southern Gulf Islands including on Sidney Island. In addition to parkland on Pender Island, Mayne Island, Saturna Island and other islands, there is also SMONEĆTEN Campground just outside Sidney, BC, on Vancouver Island.

For details about the campsites and parkland facilities, see the Parks Canada website or the article about the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve on the VancouversBestPlaces.com website.

Sidney Spit and Sidney Island

Sidney Island is very close to the east coast of Vancouver Island, but also a bit remote at the same time. There’s public transport to the island for only a few months each year, and a very small number of permanent residents live there. At the same time, the island is a fabulous place for a day trip or an overnight stay in the summer.

Those who visit have their choice of beachfront areas to relax at, or campground sites to set up their tents in. The northern part of the island is part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve which means there’s plenty of great nature to explore. It’s a beautiful place and well worth a visit! The beaches there are stunning!

Getting to Sidney Island

Sidney Island is located just 5 kms off the coast of Vancouver Island. The easiest way to get to the island is by taking the Sidney Spit Ferry in the summer. The ferry is typically open from the Victoria Day Long Weekend in the second half of May until the beginning of September.

The ferry departs from the Port Sidney Marina which is about a 30-minute drive from downtown Victoria. In 2024 round-trip ferry tickets cost $25 for adults or $21 for seniors and children (ages 13 and under).

Besides the ferry, the only other ways to get to the island are by private boat or private seaplane (unless you are a world-class swimmer and on the crazy side). That means from September until the middle of May there’s no public transport to Sidney Island.

For people who visit Sidney Island by private boat, there are 11 mooring buoys to tie up at. There is also a dock (but only in the summer months).

Click Gulf Islands National Park Reserve to learn about recreational and camping opportunities on Sidney Island and other Parks Canada locations in the Southern Gulf Islands region.

Sidney Ferry Boat — Ferry to Sidney Island

What to Do on Sidney Island

The biggest attraction on the island is Sidney Spit. The spit is on the north end of the island and it’s near to where the ferry docks. Considered one of the best sandy beaches in the Greater Victoria area, Sidney Spit feels like it has miles of beachfront (and its long, but not quite that long). It’s beautiful though, and very much a paradise, especially on sunny days.

The spit is part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve which covers some 16 or so of the Southern Gulf Islands. Parks Canada operates the island’s designated campground which is just a couple hundred metres away from the beach.

The campground is open from May 15th to September 30th and has over 25 sites. An important note for those who camp there is that any sort of campfire is prohibited in the park.

The island is also a great spot for birdwatchers as the area is host to various bird migrations over the course of the year. One of the popular birdwatching spots is Sidney Lagoon which is a medium-distance hike from the beach. Most of the trails on the island are flat and easy to walk.

Click Gulf Islands National Park Reserve to learn about recreational and camping opportunities on Sidney Island and other Parks Canada locations in the Southern Gulf Islands region.

Camping on Sidney Island

Sidney Island is a great place to go camping. The campsite is open between the middle of May and the end of September. There are 29 basic campsites that include picnic tables. There is also a group campsite that can be booked for group picnicking events.

You have to walk a little ways from the dock where the ferry drops you off to get to your campsite. That’s okay though because there are wheelbarrows available that you can carry your gear in. The campground has pit toilets, but no running tap water (including no non-potable water). As a result, you have to take enough water with you to last for your full stay (which can be quite a bit on hot sunny days, especially if you plan to stay a few nights).

To reserve a campsite, visit reservation.pc.gc.ca.

Parks Canada Activities on Sidney Island — (Photo courtesy of Parks Canada & the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.)

Interpretive Programs

Parks Canada offers Interpretive Programming at lots of different places within the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve including on Sidney Island. On Sundays in July and August in 2024, for example, there are drop-in activities at the Sidney Spit day-use area from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm. At them you can learn about plants from an Indigenous W̱SÁNEĆ Interpreter.

Also on Sidney Island there are Roving Interpreters on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm between the end of June and end of August. You’ll find the interpreters wandering around at various locations in the Sidney Spit area. From them you’ll learn about sand dunes, orcas (killer whales) and other interesting things about the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.

To learn more about the Interpretive Programs on Sidney Island and elsewhere within the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, see the Parks Canada website.

Other Information

For more information about the island, visit the Sidney Island website or see the Parks Canada website.

Another Canada Parks site in Victoria that you might be interested in is Fort Rodd Hill. In the Lower Mainland there is Fort Langley and the Gulf of Georgia Cannery.

Other articles that might be of interest on both this website and VancouversBestPlaces.com include the following: